Why is there no dislike button??

I have discovered one of the most awkward experiences known to man this week. It was horrifying and unexpected. We all know that Facebook has taken over the world. Rarely do you see a computer screen where Facebook is not up, or at least on one of the tabs. We all see people looking at other people’s pictures, and we all do it too, but have you ever caught someone looking at your pictures? It is weird, especially when they realize that you know they are looking at them, looking at your pictures.

Over the weekend I had befriended a few of my ASU classmates via "the social network”. Most of them are people in my Glee group for my gender and communication class, but a couple were in my Philosophy class. I made my way into class and took my seat in the second to last row. As I have mentioned in my blog, Anti-freeze and Shovels, we all have laptops in front of us in class. While waiting for class to start I opened my Facebook and noticed that the kid in front of me had requested that we become Facebook friends. I figured it would not hurt to have an easy way to access a member of my class. I mean you never know when you might need to double check on assignment requirements, due dates, or test dates right? So I added him and thought nothing of it.

A few minutes later I noticed he was looking at my profile page. That in itself was a little awkward but not out of the ordinary, but then he started looking at my pictures. I will be the first to admit that I too do this when I make a new Facebook friend. Looking at pictures of other people is really fun, but I never thought about how awkward it would be for that person, especially if they happened to be sitting behind you in class. I felt a little violated, which is funny because I was the one who put those pictures up for others to see. I think it stemmed from the fact that I do not know this person at all. Therefore, what concern does he have with my summer biggest loser contest I had at work?

Well, as he browsed through my pictures he must have thought one of the girls in my pictures was cute because he left my page and started looking at her pictures. What single guy has not done this? I bet everyone has at one point or another, myself included, but it is really weird to watch someone doing it with your Facebook page and friends.

One would think that I would have learned my lesson, but later that day I did the exact same thing to a new Facebook friend in my Gender and Communication class. I had made the friend request over the weekend, and this potential friend accepted that request at some point during this particular day. I did not get on Facebook until this new Facebook friend was sitting right next to me. What was the first thing I did? Any guesses?? If you guessed that I looked at this new friend’s pictures you are correct. That is right, I did the exact same thing to this new friend that my new friend had done to me in Philosophy class. The only difference is I realized that my new friend was witnessing me doing this, and that my friends is even more awkward than seeing someone look at your pictures.

JB